Apparatus for shifting loose material



July 14, 1936.

E. ZAREMBA APPARATUS FOR SHIFTING LOOSE MATERIAL Filed July 51, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS July 14, 1936. Y E. ZAREMBA APPARATUS FOR 'SHIFTING LOOSE MATERIAL 3 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed July 31, 1954 l T h INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented July 14, 1936 UNITED srArEs operates continuously, in picking up large quanti- PATENT I APPARATUS" FOR SHIPPING LoosE' ,MA'IERIAL Edward Zaremba, East Aurora, N. v. j V Application July 31, 19$},Serial No; 737.749

ZCIaim's. (01. 37-43) This invention relates to an apparatus for shifting loose material from one place to another and more particularly to an apparatus which 5 ties of material, putting the same in motionand then delivering the same in a continuous stream to the place of deposit.

Material capable of being handled advantageously in this manner by the apparatus forming the subject of this invention may consist of large quantities of material which is small inv size, such as snow, ashes, coal dust, unsacked grain,

pulverized ore, sand, soil, liquids, in short any loose or fluid material not compacted and capable of being operated upon by a rotary motion.

It is the object of this invention to providejan apparatus for accomplishing this purpose which by a rotary action can efficiently pickup continuously loose material lyingin a mass, put the same in motion and then dischargethedissociated material in the desired direction under the control of an operator.

To that end this invention consistsgenerally of a power operated rotary shovel provided with means for forwardly engaging the material to .be moved, imparting a rotary or whirling motion to the same, and'then throwing the same laterally, adjustable means for changing the direction in which the material is thrown by the shovel, and a truck upon which the shovel is mounted and can be lowered and raised thereon for adapting the same to the material to be moved and also to facilitate transportation.

section taken on the correspondingly numbered line in Fig. 4.

Figure 6 is a front elevation, onlan enlarged scale, and partly in section, of one of the rotary plows and the enclosing casing constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 7 is a vertical longitudinal section of 'th same, taken on line 1-! Fig. 6. r

Figure 8 is a front view of a modified form of the shovel or rotor for tion.

ming part of this inven- Figure 9 isa vertical section of the sametaken on line 9--9 Fig. 8. g

In the following description similar characters of reference indicate likev parts in the several figures of the drawings;- I 5 Although an apparatus embodying this invention may be mounted on a stationary support as would be the case if the same were used for transferring water or similar material; from one place to another, the same .as shownin the aca companying drawings is organized for-use as a snow-plow and mounted on v a; movable ,truck v so that the apparatus as a whole can be advanced as the;shoveling or plowing operation progresses. v This truck or movablecarrier may be' of any suitable construction, and as shown in thedrawings the same comprises .a main frameor body 10 which is provided'at its front and rear ends withsupporting wheels l I, 12 whereby the same may run over the roadway intended to receive 29 the same. These. wheels maybe operated by powerof any suitable character, such as gas engines commonly employed for operating, auto-,- mobiles, and means may be associated with these wheelsfor steeringthe same over' the ground, such asthe means now in common use for this purpose in trucks and other motor-driven vehicles.

At, one of the, ends'of the truckframe, preferably the front end thereof, isarranged a vertically 39 movable slide or carrier upon which is mounted the housing, and the rotary shovel forming the main elements of the means fortransferring material from one location to another; suchfo'r, example as a transfer of a mass of snow from-a road-bed to-one side of the same. This vertically movable slide or "carriage may be variously constructed but may consist generally, foriexample,

of two vertically sliding plates l3 engaging with the outer side. of vertical guide plates I4 'ar- 40 rangedon opposite sides of the front part *orthe truck frame, and a cross bar l5 connecting the upper parts of the sliding plates I3, as best shown in Figs. 1, 2,4, and 6. The rear end 'of each sliding plate [3 is pivotallyconnected'by means ofa horizontal transverse pivot 19 with the adjacent part of the truck frame ll] so that the-carrier or slide 'in its vertically sliding movement will swing through an arc, of which the pivots [9 form 'the axis. l

, Means are providedfor raising and lowering this carrier or slide forthe purpose of "bringing the 'snow shoveling apparatus mountedthereon into the proper position with reference to" the mass of loose material which is to'be transferred,

and also for convenience in transporting the apparatus when not in use, which raising and lowering means may be of any desired construction, but as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 5 the same may consist of two compressed air or hydraulic operated lifting and lowering jacks arranged on opposite sides of the central part of the apparatus, and each provided with an upper cylinder l6 which is pivotally connected at its upper end with the cross bar l5, and a lower plunger l1 sliding'in the cylinder and pivotally connected at its lower end with the adjacent part of the truck frame, and suitably valved piping l8 whereby pressure fluid, such as oil under pressure or compressed air, may be admitted to the upper ends of these cylinders and also exhausted therefrom for the purpose of causing the shovel carrier to be either raised or lowered on the truck frame to suit different requirements.

On the front of this shovel carrier are mounted themeans whereby the loose material is picked up while the latter is at rest and then thrown to one side orthe other of the roadway. In the preferred construction these material shifting or transferring means comprise two shoveling or plowing units which are arranged transversely side by side on opposite sides of the center line of the truck, and as these units are identical in construction, the following description of one of these units will apply to both of them:-

Each of these units includes a housing or enclosing casing which is preferably constructed of sheet metal and comprises an upright transverse rear wall 20, an upright transverse front wall 2| which is provided in its lower part with an inlet opening 22, the upper edge of which is curved, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6, an upright longitudinal side wall 23 connecting the outer upright edges of the front and rear'walls, an inner upright longitudinal wall 24 connecting the inner upright edges of the front and rear walls, and two plow points 25, 26 arranged at the front sides of the lower corners of the casing, the upper ends of the front and rear transverse walls and the longitudinal side walls being separated from each other so as to form an upwardly and laterally opening material outlet 21 for the casing or housing.

When two shoveling means of this character are arranged side by side the single inner longitudinal upright wall 24 will serve as a part of the housing of both of the shoveling units, as shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 6.

Within the lower part of each of these housings is arranged a rotor or rotary shovel whereby material which is to be transferred may be picked up continuously from the place where it rests and then carried rearwardly into the casing while receiving a whirling motion from the shovel and thendischarged laterally or transversely to the longitudinal movement of the truck and the shovel carried thereby and deposited on either one side or the other of the roadway.

Each of these shovels or rotors in its general organization comprises a forwardly tapering conical body 28 which has its axis arranged horizontally and lengthwise of the apparatus and enlarges from its front end toward its rear end, and has its front part projecting forwardly through the inlet 22 of the housing, while its rear end is arranged close to the rear wall 20 of the respective housing, as best shown in Fig. 7. This conical body is'mounted on a hub 29 which is carried on the front end of the driven shaft 30 journaled inrsuitable bearings-3! 0n the adjacent part of the carrier frame, as best shown in Figs. 2 and 7. The hub 29 of the shaft 30 is provided with a short cylindrical portion 32 which extends forwardly from the truncated front end of the shovel body 28 and terminates in a forwardly tapering conical tip 33, as best shown in Figs. 6 and 7.

On the periphery of the shovel body 28 the same is provided with one or more material receiving and propelling vanes, three of such vanes being preferably employed, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6. These vanes are preferably equally spaced and each vane has the general form of a helicoid or helix which begins on the small end of the periphery of the shovel body and extends helically or spirally around this periphery toward the large rear end of the shovel body in such manner that the diameter of the helical vane gradually increases from its front end toward its rear end.

Each of the helical vanes is generally of trough shaped form in cross section and consists of a rear bottom 34 which inclines from its front edge toward the rear edge thereof, which is secured to the periphery of the shovel body, and a front wall or flange 35 projecting outwardly or laterally from the front edge of the bottom 34, as best shown in Fig. '7. The front end of the trough thus formed by each vane begins close to the axis of rotation of the shovel body 28 and also adjacent to the small end of this body, while the rear end of each trough or vane terminates at the largerear end of the shovel body which is arranged farthest from the axis of rotation of the shovel.

The curvature of the spiral or helicoid form of each trough-shaped vane is preferably such that the front oradvancing portion of the same is of substantially uniform and increasing curvature, as indicated generally from the point of beginning at 36 to an intermediate point indicated at 31, but from the last-mentioned point the direction ofthe vane is substantially tangential, as indicated at 38, up to the outer or rear end of the respective vane.

As each of these plows is advanced by the truck against a standing mass of material, such as a mass of snow on a roadway, the front or small ends of the several vanes enter the standing mass of material and act thereon in the manner of a screw propeller which causes this material to be drawn backwardly into the several trough shaped vanes and against the body of the shovel. thereby enabling these vanes and the body of the shovel to enter this mass of standing material very easily inasmuch as the front end of each vane acts in the manner of a gouge which starts the operation of this vane in cutting its way into the mass of standing material, and as the shovel advances this cutting action of each vane is effected by the outer edge of its front wall from the front end to the rear end thereof, thereby shearing off material from the standing mass in front of the plow and causing the same to be directed into the channel of the trough shaped vane.

The volume of material which is cut away from the standing mass of material by the vane the trough shaped vane and'prevented from escaping forwardly therefrom by reason of the rearward inclination of the bottom of each vane toward the periphery of the shovel body, thereby enabling each vane to retain a firm grip on the load of material which has been taken up by each vane, and causing this material to move helically in each of the vanes with gradually increasing speed from the front end of the vane toward the rear end thereof, from which lastmentioned end the material is finally discharged with the maximum force and speed laterally or at right angles to the axis of rotation of the shovel through the outlet in the upper part of the casing or housing.

'The particular curvature in diiferent parts of the spiral form of each vane is governed by the character of the material which is to be trans-- ferred and is best determined by actual experience in shoveling a particular material.

Rotary motion may be imparted to each shovel body and its vanes so that the front ends of the vanes are always in advance by any suitable means, but those shown in the drawings are satisfactory and constructed as follows:

The numeral 39 represents a motor, such as a gas engine, mounted on the rear part of the truck frame and connected by means of a speed changing mechanism 40 with .a driving shaft 4!. The numeral 42 represents an intermediate shaft journaled in suitable bearings on the upper part of the carrier frame immediately in rear of one or" the shovel housings and operatively connected with the corresponding shovel shaft til by mea s of a chain belt 43 passing around sprocket wheels 44, 45 secured respectively to the intermediate shaft 42 and the respective shovel shaft 38, and a longitudinal coupling shaft 46 connected at its rear and front ends by means of rear and front universal couplings 41, 48 with the driving shaft 4| and the intermediate shaft 42, as best shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

By these means the shovel carrier may be turned in a vertical plane to a limited extent about the horizontal transverse axis formed by the pivots IS without interfering with the driving connection between the engines 39 and the rotary bodies and vanes of the shovels.

Means are provided whereby the loose material discharged by centrifugal force from the rear end of the shovel through the outlet 2 of the respective casing may be directed toward one side or the other of the roadway where the same is to be deposited. Although various means may be provided for this purpose those shown in the drawings are satisfactory and preferably comprising stationary guide section 49 arranged above the body and vanes of each shovel, and a verti cally swinging guide section 55! adapted to move toward and from the space between the outer edge of the stationary guide section 49 and the adjacent upper edge of the side wall 23 of the housing. For this purpose the adjustable guide section 50 is preferably pivoted at its upper end by means of a hinge 5| adjacent to the outer end of the stationary section 4| so that this movable guide section may be lowered into its operative position close to the periphery of the shovel and across the'space between the fixed guide section 49 and the side wall section 23, as shown by full lines in Fig. 6.

In this position of the movable guide section the loose material which has been taken on by the shovel and thrown off from the peripheral part of the rear, end thereof will engage both sections 50 and 49 of the material guide and direct the same. upwardly and laterally through the outlet of the casing toward theleft hand side of the apparatus, as indicated by the full line arrow 52. Upon, however, raising the movable section 50 of the material guide from the position shown by full lines in Fig. 6 to the elevated position shown by dotted lines in the same figure, then the material which is thrown off laterally from the large rear end of the shovelbody and vanes will be propelled through that part of the casing outlet between the stationary guide section 49 and the side wall 23, so that this material will now be discharged toward the right hand side of the shovel and on to the adjacent part ofthe roadway, as indicated by the dotted arrow 53 in Fig. 6.

Any-suitable meansmay be employed for raising and lowering the movable section of the material guide into one or another of these positions, those shown in the drawings comprising a horizontal rock shaft 54 which is journaled lengthwise in suitable bearings on the upper part of the housing, a rock arm 55 projecting downwardly from this rock shaft, a link 56 connecting this rock arm with the movable guide section 55, and an upright adjusting shaft 51 journaled on the respective housing and provided with a worm 58 which meshes with a worm wheel 59 on therock shaft 54 and also provided with a hand wheel 60 for manipulating the same.

The opening of each movable section 5% of the material guide of each housing may be limited by a stop Tl] arranged on the adjacent part of the respective housing.

.When a machine of considerable width is required, the apparatus is organized so as to employ two shovels side by side as shown in the drawings, but when a machine of narrower width or one of lesscapacity is desired the same may be organized so as to embody a single shoveling unit of this character.

In order to enable the shoveling device to rest on the roadway and run over the same while the mechanism is in operation, the lower ends of the shovel housings may be provided with shoes or runners 5! which are adapted to rest on the roadway and slide over the same in the manner of a sled.

For the purpose of enabling the wheels H and I2 of the truck to run over a relatively clear surface on the roadway and thus enabling the shovel mechanism to engage to the fullest extent with the mass of material lying on the road ahead a plow 62 may be employed in front of each of the forward wheels of the truck, which plow operates to scrape off the excess snow or other material lying on the roadway ahead of the respective wheel.

Each of these plows may be retained in its'low- 7 er operative position and raised into an inoperative position by various means. As shown in the drawings, this is accomplished by connecting the upper rear end of each plow by means of .a pivot 63 with a bracket on the adjacent part of the shovel carrier, while the front part of each of these plows is connected by means of a chain 64 with the front part of the shovel carrier, as best shown in Fig. 2.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings an individual motor is provided for each of the shoveling devices which permits these devices to be operated either simultaneously or independently of each other, but if desired the same may be operated from a single power unit.

No particular power plant is shown in the drawings for propelling the truck which carries the shoveling mechanism but the power for this purpose may be derived either from a motor which performs the exclusive function of driving the truck, and if desired the power for this purpose may be derived from the same motors which operate the shoveling mechanism.

In the operation of this apparatus each of the shoveling devices upon moving forwardly with the truck will be pushed into the lying or stationary mass of material which is to be moved, whereby each of the transverse walls of the vanes operating as a cutter will slice or shave the material into the form of a ribbon and load the same into the channel of the respective trough shaped vane similar to the manner in which this is done when operating a snow shovel by hand. As the material is deposited on the bottom of the vanes the rotary movement of the 7 latter causes the material to slide lengthwise on the bottom of the vanes from the front ends to the rear ends thereof, which movement is gradually accelerated by the progressively increasing diameter of the vanes from the front to the rear ends of the same, and is also gradually changed in its direction from a spiral movement to a tangential movement so that the material is finally discharged from the shovel while travelling at a high speed.

This function is performed continuously during the rotary motion of the shovel and permits the same to operate without any head resistance to the onward movement of the shoveling apparatus, thereby enabling the shovel to pick up the load in front of the apparatus and discharge the same far from one side of the path of the apparatus at a comparatively rapid speed and with a minimum expenditure of power, whereby this work may be done efficiently and economically by the use of a comparatively small amount of manual help.

As the shoveling apparatus advances the plow points 25, 26 direct the snow lying on the ground toward the inlet of the housings so that the same can be properly acted on by the shovels. The upper part 2| of the housings directing the upper part of the mass of material, such as snow, to said inlets brings the same within reach of the rotary shovels. The side walls 23, 24 are extended forwardly beyond the front wall of the casing so that the same act as dividers which separate the material of the mass standing in the path of the apparatus from that lying outside of this path and compelling the same to enter the housing preparatory to being engaged by the rotary shovels and thrown laterally at a considerable distance from the path of the apparatus.

Although this invention is herein shown in an organization for moving snow from one place to another, the same obviously is useful for various other purposes, such as excavating soil and sand, transferring ashes,coal dust, loose grain and the like, and can also be employed advantageously for mixing liquid materials of various kinds.

Although the vanes are shown in the drawings of helical form the same may have the form of a spiral which is of gradually increasing diameter similar to the shape of a snail or volute, as shown in Fig. 8, and the body of the rotor or shovel may have the form of a flat disk or plate H mounted on a rotary shaft '12, as shown in Fig. 9. Each of the vanes may also have its bottom 13 and flange 14 merged into each other by a curved part 15, as shown in Fig. 9, instead of being joined by an angular corner, as shown in Fig. 7. r

I claim as my invention:

1. An apparatus for shifting loose material including a portable housing having an inlet at its front side and an outlet on its upper part, a rotary shovel arranged in said housing and having a body of rearwardly enlarging form, the front end of which faces said inlet and the rear end of which faces said outlet, a helical vane arranged on the periphery of said body, and means for adjusting the direction in which the material is delivered by said shovel, including a fixed guide section arranged above the shovel within the said outlet and a movable guide section adjustable toward and from a position between said fixed guide section and the adjacent side part of said housing, and means for adjusting said movable guide section comprising a rotary shaft journaled on said housing, an arm connected with said shaft, and a link connecting said arm and movable guide section.

2. An apparatus for shifting loose material including a portable housing having an inlet at its front side and an outlet at its top side, a rotary shovel mounted in said housing and having a conical body whose apex faces said inlet and whose base lies opposite said outlet, a number of curved vanes mounted on the periphery of said body, and means for adjusting the direction in which the material is discharged by said shovel, including a fixed guide-section mounted above the shovel within said outlet, and a pivoted guide section or gate, adjustable toward and from a position in line with the plane of said fixed guide section and the adjacent side part of said housing, and means for adjusting said gate section comprising a shaft operatively connected with the gate section and journaled in said housing, and manual operating means for actuating said shaft.

EDWARD ZAREMBA. 

